• Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das was appointed the second Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• P.K. Mishra, a retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

• This is the first time that two persons will simultaneously serve as Principal Secretaries to the Prime Minister. Both Mishra and Shaktikanta Das are from Odisha.

• Mishra, has been serving as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister since September 2019.

• According to an official order, the tenure of Shaktikanta Das, will be “co-terminus” with the term of the PM or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Who is Shaktikanta Das?

• Shaktikanta Das, 68, has been a career civil servant with over 44 years of distinguished service, primarily in the areas of finance, taxation, investment and infrastructure.

• He was the central government’s Revenue Secretary. During his tenure as Economic Affairs Secretary in 2016, the Modi government had announced the demonetisation.

• Das played a key role when multiple indirect taxes were merged into one GST, which came into effect on July 1, 2017. Post-retirement, he was appointed as a member of the 15th Finance Commission and G20 Sherpa of India. 

• Das became the 25th Governor of the RBI in 2018 after Urjit Patel resigned.

• Initially appointed for three years, his tenure was extended for a further period of three years in 2021. He demitted office in December 2024 when Sanjay Malhotra was appointed as RBI governor.

• Das was the second longest serving governor of the RBI in its 90-year history after Benegal Rama Rau, who had a seven-and-a-half-year tenure in the 1950s.

• Das, a 1980-batch IAS officer, holds a Master’s degree in history from Delhi's St Stephen's College and a postgraduate degree in public administration from the University of Birmingham.

• During his tenure, the RBI handed over the highest-ever dividend of Rs 2.11 lakh crore to the Centre for 2023-24.

• He was also conferred with the ‘Central Bank Governor of the Year’ award by Central Banking, UK.

• Das has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

• He represented India in several international fora like the IMF, G20, BRICS and SAARC.

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